These discussion questions and podcast were prepared by Diana Hsieh for ExploreAtlasShrugged.com. They aim to be of help to people interested in creating their own Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups, as well as to anyone wishing to study the novel in more depth. They may be freely used for the study and discussion of Atlas Shrugged, provided that this paragraph remains intact in any reproduction.

Readings

Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapters 7 (Part B) – 8

• Part 1: Chapter 7: The Exploiters and the Exploited (Sections 5-9)
• Part 1: Chapter 8: The John Galt Line

Or:

• Pages 185-252 in the larger Hardcover or Softcover
• Pages 178-241 in the smaller Mass Market Paperback

Podcast

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66:38 minutes

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Learn More

• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, also available in hardcover
• Essays on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, edited by Robert Mayhew
• Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups of Front Range Objectivism
• AtlasShrugged.com, produced by by the Ayn Rand Institute

Discussion Questions

(Note: The listed page numbers are for the larger edition, softcover or hardback.)

Chapter 7: The Exploiters and the Exploited

Section 5: 185-92

• What is Dr. Stadler’s basic modus operandi? What motivates him to act as he does? How does he view other people? Why did he found the State Science Institute? (185-92)

Section 6: 192-7

• Why does Dagny choose to take on the burden of completing the Rio Norte Line alone? What are the basic terms of the deal she offers Jim? Is the deal just or not? (193-5)

Section 7: 197-201

• Why is Francisco D’Anconia so pained by Dagny’s request for investment? Why does he refuse to help her? Why does his attitude change so dramtically in the middle of the conversation? What is Dagny’s response to that change? (197-201)

Section 8: 201-5

• What does Rearden reveal about his feelings for Dagny when she suggests that he has only ever thought of her as a man? Why does Dagny think that of him? Why does Hank think of his feelings for Dagny as a betrayal of her? (204-5)

Section 9: 205-216

• What is the basic moral difference between the request of Mrs. Rearden and the request of Mr. Ward to Hank Rearden? Why does Hank refuse the former yet work hard to satisfy the latter? (206-213)

Whole Chapter

• What is the significance of the title of this chapter?

Part 1: Chapter 8: The John Galt Line

Section 1: 217-8

• Why does Eddie feel like a stooge for Jim Taggart? In what way is that feeling right? (218)

Section 2: 219-21

• What does Dagny’s longing for “a consciousness like her own” reveal about her romantic ideal? Why doesn’t Francisco or Hank satisfy that longing? (220)

Section 3: 221-7

• How does Rearden’s sale of his ore mines to Paul Larkin differ from his sale of his coal mines to Ken Dannager? What do these transactions reveal about each man? (221-4)

Section 4: 227-33

• What kind of ideas and values motivate and guide the opinions of laymen and intellectuals about Rearden Metal? (227-9)
• What kind of game is the delegate of the Union of Locomotive Engineers attempting to play with Dagny? How does she block it? (231-2)

Section 5: 233-6

• What does Rearden’s claim that he will earn enormous profits yet benefit the public with his metal reveal about his view of the interests of producers and consumers? (235)

Section 6: 236-9

• How is the opening of the John Galt Line a true celebration for Dagny — unlike her debut ball as a young woman? (236-9)

Section 7: 239-242

• What does Ayn Rand reveal about her view of the proper relationship between mind and body in the first run of the John Galt Line? (241, 243, 245-6)
• What permits Hank Rearden to express his desire for Dagny? What is Dagny’s motivation for the affair with Hank? Why is their sex so violent? (250-2)

Whole Chapter

• What is the significance of the title of this chapter?